My goal: To read the Bible 4 times through in 2015. I'd love to read it each quarter. But I typically end up checking my progress in November/December and making a list of which books I need to read, and how many times, in order to make it to that year's goal.

Early July Check-In

I've read the Bible through twice so far this year. The first quarter I read "extra" in the New Testament. The second quarter, I read "extra" in the Old Testament. James and John will have extra because they've been MacArthur-ed. Chosen to read 30 times in a row.

Late November Check-In

I *think* I've read the Bible through 4 times, but, I'm going to keep on reading, of course.

II. How Firm A Foundation

My goal: Same as last year. To spend time with the Apostle John. To focus on John, 1 John, and Revelation. I'd love to read each of these 30 times. (Last year, I read the gospel of John 25 times, and the book of Revelation 43 times. I believe I read 1 John, 21 times.)

Early July Check-In

What have I done to meet this goal? Well, I chose to read John 30 times this summer. So far I'm around 16 or 17? I think. So I'm on my way to getting to that number 30! I've started reading R. Kent Hughes' John: That You May Believe Preaching the Word Commentary published by Crossway. I hope to finish that this summer or perhaps this fall. I have several other commentaries that I'd love to get to. We'll see.

Late November Check-In

I finished the commentary by R. Kent Hughes!!! It was wonderful

I also listened to a teaching series called DOCTRINES OF GRACE IN THE GOSPEL OF JOHN it was absolutely WONDERFUL. I'LL BE REVIEWING THIS SOON.

III. Deep and Wide

My goal: To use the MacArthur System of study several times throughout the year. Candidates include: 2 Corinthians, Galatians, James, 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus and Philemon, and Jude. (I am not brave enough to tackle the gospels or Acts.)

Early July Check-In

I've read James. I'm in the process of reading John. If you haven't tried this way of reading the Bible, you should be brave and just do it! I promise you that it is worth it!!! Yes, it takes time and effort. A commitment to read the Bible each day, but, it is so rewarding!!!

I will probably take a break after reading John, but, maybe one more book before the end of the year? Anyone want to be brave and read a book with me? Let me know! Pick a book, pick a month!!!

Late November Check-In

I've finished John. I've finished 1 and 2 Timothy!!!

IV. Meditate or Memorize.

My goal: I'd love to memorize a verse per week. But. Since I'm completely new to memorization--at least as an adult--I'd be content with 24 or so. I'd rather really, really know 24, than be able to stumble through fifty.

Early July-Check-In

Am I memorizing the Bible? No. Not really. Have I been meditating on the Bible verses I've selected? Yes and no. That is sometimes. I seem to be contrary. Either I'm really on-task and read/meditate several times per week--sometimes even five or six days of the week--or else I'm horrible at it and go two or three weeks without. So I'm not as consistent as I'd like. But this has been helpful to me overall. It was a great blessing this spring to have these verses ready-to-go.

Late November Check-In

I am trying to decide what the best method is for this. To choose verses ahead of time. Or to write them down as I find them in my reading. To try to be methodical--going through books of the Bible, balancing Old Testament and New Testament--or spur of the moment and all over the place...

V. Christian Nonfiction

My goal: To read twenty-four nonfiction books.

Early July Check-In

I've read 59 Christian Nonfiction books this year. That's twice my goal. And the year is just half over. So my best books might be yet to come!

Late November Check-In

I haven't totaled November yet. But January - October has me with 97 Christian Nonfiction books!

Tuesday, December 30, 2014

Turn or Burn
Charles Spurgeon
1856
“If he turn not, he will whet his sword; he hath bent his bow and made it ready.”—Psalm 7:12.

IF THE SINNER turn not, God will whet his sword.” So, then, God has a sword, and he will punish man on account of his iniquity. This evil generation hath laboured to take away from God the sword of his justice; they have endeavoured to prove themselves that God will “clear the guilty,” and will by no means “punish iniquity, transgression and sin.”

Perhaps some of the Puritanic fathers may have gone too far, and have given too great a prominence to the terrors of the Lord in their ministry: but the age in which we live has sought to forget those terrors altogether, and if we dare to tell men that God will punish them for their sins, it is charged upon us that want to bully them into religion, and if we faithfully and honestly tell our hearers that sin must bring after it certain destruction, it is said that we are attempting to frighten them into goodness. Now we care not what men mockingly impute to us; we feel it our duty, when men sin, to tell them they shall be punished, and so long as the world will not give up its sin we feel we must not cease our warnings.

But the cry of the age is, that God is merciful, that God is love. Ay; who said he was not? But remember, it is equally true, God is just, severely and inflexibly just. He were not God, if he were not just; he could not be merciful if he were not just, for punishment of the wicked is demanded by the highest mercy to the rest of mankind. Rest assured, however, that he is just, and that the words I am about to read you from God’s Word are true—“The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God;’ “God is angry with the wicked every day;” “If he turn not, he will whet his sword; he hath bent his bow, and made it ready. He hath also prepared for him the instruments of death; he ordaineth his arrows against the persecutors.” Forsooth, because this age is wicked it is to have no hell; and because it is hypocritical it would have but feigned punishment. This doctrine is so prevalent as to make even the ministers of the gospel flinch from their duty in declaring the day of wrath. How few there are who will solemnly tell us of the judgment to come. They preach of God’s love and mercy as they ought to do, and as God has commanded them; but of what avail is it to preach mercy unless they preach also the doom of the wicked? And how shall we hope to effect the purpose of preaching unless we warn men that if they “turn not, he will whet his sword?” I fear that in too many places the doctrine of future punishment is rejected and laughed as a fancy and a chimera; but the day will come when it shall be known to be a reality.

I. In the first place, my hearers, let me endeavour to explain to you the NATURE OF THE TURNING HERE MEANT. It says—“if he turn not he will whet his sword.”

The turning here meant is actual, not fictitious—not that which stops with promises and vows, but that which deals with the real acts life. Ah! my hearer, it is not thy promise of repentance that can save thee; it is not thy vow, it is not thy solemn declaration, it is not the tear that is dried more easily than the dew-drop by the sun, it is not the transient emotion of the heart which constitutes a real turning to God. There must be a true and actual abandonment of sin, and a turning unto righteousness in real act and deed in every-day life.

Repentance to be true, to be evangelical, must be a repentance which really affects our outward conduct.

In the next place, repentance to be sure must be entire. How many will say, “Sir, I will renounce this sin and the other; but there are certain darling lusts which I must keep and hold.” O sirs, In God’s name let me tell you, it is not the giving up of one sin, nor fifty sins, which is true repentance; it is the solemn renunciation of every sin. If thou dost indulge in but one lust, and dost give up every other, that one lust, like one leak in a ship, will sink thy soul.

Think it not sufficient to give up thy outward vices; fancy it not enough to cut off the more corrupt sins of thy life; it is all or none which God demands. The true penitent hates sin in the race, not in the individual—in the mass, not in the particular. All sin must be given up, or else you shall never have Christ: all transgression must be renounced, or else the gates of heaven must be barred against you. Let us remember, then, that for repentance to be sincere it must be entire repentance.

Furthermore; the repentance here described as absolutely necessary is hearty repentance. It is not a mock tear; it is not hanging out the ensigns of grief, whilst you are keeping merriment in your hearts. It is not having an illumination within, and shutting up all the windows by a pretended repentance; it is the putting out of the candles of the heart; it is sorrow of soul which is true repentance.

True repentance is a turning of the heart as well as of the life; it is the giving up of the whole soul to God, to be his for ever and ever; it is a renunciation of the sins of the heart, as well as the crimes of the life. And lastly, upon this point, this repentance must be perpetual. It is not my turning to God during to-day that will be a proof that I am a true convert; it is forsaking of my sin throughout the entire of my life, until I sleep in the grave.

Legal repentance is a fear of damning: evangelical repentance is a fear of sinning. Legal repentance makes us fear the wrath of God; evangelical repentance makes us fear the cause of that wrath, even sin. When a man repents with that grace of repentance which God the Spirits works in him, he repents not of the punishment which is to follow the deed, but of the deed itself; and he feels that if there were not pit digged for the wicked, if there were no ever-gnawing worm, and no fire unquenchable, he would still hate sin. It is such repentance as this which every one of you must have, or else you will be lost. It must be a hatred of sin. Do not suppose, that because when you come to die you will be afraid of eternal torment, therefore that will be repentance. Every thief is afraid of the prison; but he will steal to-morrow if you set him free. Most men who have committed murder tremble at the sight of the gallows-tree, but they would do the deed again could they live. It is not the hatred of the punishment that is repentance; it is the hatred of the deed itself. Do you feel that you have such a repentance as that? If not, these thundering words must be preached to you again,—“If he turn not, he will whet his sword.”

But one more hint here. When a man is possessed of true and evangelical repentance—I mean the gospel repentance which saves the soul—he not only hates sin for its own sake, but loathes it so extremely and utterly that he feels that no repentance of his own can avail to wash it out, and he acknowledges that it is only by an act of sovereign grace that his sin can be washed away.

Now, if any of you suppose that you repent of your sins, and yet imagine that by a course of holy living you can blot them out—if you suppose that by walking uprightly in future you can obliterate your past transgressions—you have not yet truly repented;

And now the second point; it is a yet more terrible one to dwell upon, and if I consulted my own feelings I should not mention it; but we must not consider our feelings in the work of ministry, any more than we should if we were physicians of men’s bodies. We must sometimes use the knife, where we feel that mortification would ensue without it. We must frequently make sharp gashes into men’s consciences, in the hope that the Holy Spirit will bring them to life. We assert, then, that there is a NECESSITY that God should whet his sword and punish men, if they will not turn. Earnest Baxter used to say, “Sinner! turn or burn; it is thine only alternative: TURN OR BURN!” And it is so. We think we can show you why men must turn, or else they must burn.

First we cannot suppose the God of the Bible could suffer sin to be unpunished. Some may suppose it; they may dream their intellects into a state of intoxication, so as to suppose a God apart from justice; but no man whose reason is sound and whose mind is in a healthy condition can imagine a God without justice. To suppose him all love, and no justice, were to undeify him, and make him no longer God; he were not capable of ruling this world if he had not justice in his heart.

But to imagine that there shall be no punishment for sin, and that man can be saved without repentance, is to fly in the face of all the Scriptures.

But why need I go far to bring arguments to bear on you, my hearers? Your own consciences tell you that God must punish sin. You may laugh at me, and say that you have no such belief. I do not say you have but I say that your conscience tells you so, and conscience has more power over men than what they think to be their belief.

O sirs! ye may think that the fire of hell is indeed a fiction, and that the flames of the nethermost pit are put popish dreams; but if ye are believers in the Bible ye must believe that it cannot be so.

Most seriously I say, I do not believe any man can repent with evangelical repentance of himself. You ask me then to what purpose is the sermon I have endeavoured to preach, proving the necessity of repentance? Allow me to make the sermon of some purpose, under God, by its conclusion. Sinner! thou art so desperately set on sin, that I have no hope thou wilt ever turn from it of thyself. But listen! He who died on Calvary is exalted on high “to give repentance and remission of sin.” Dost thou this morning feel that thou art a sinner? If so, ask of Christ to give thee repentance, for he can work repentance in thine heart by his Spirit, though thou canst not work it there thyself. He can make thee repent, though thou canst not make thyself repent. If thou feelest thy need of repentance, I will not now say to thee “repent,” for I believe there are certain acts that must precede a sense of repentance. I should advise you to go to your houses, and if you feel that you have sinned, and yet cannot sufficiently repent of your transgressions, bow your knees before God and confess your sins: tell him you cannot repent as you would; tell him your heart is hard; tell him it is as cold as ice. You can do that if God has made you feel your need of a Saviour. Then if it should be laid to your heart to endeavour to seek after repentance, I will tell you the best way to find it.

The New Testament at once shows us the total inadequacy of the common, current version of what constitutes a Christian. The New Testament terms are regeneration, a new creation, being born again. What makes men and women Christians is something that is done to them by God, not something they do themselves: “Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God.” And then, “Every one that loveth him that begat ...” God, according to John, is the one who begets us; it is God’s action, not ours. Now we need to take time in emphasizing the obvious contrast in each of these subdivisions. How ready we are to think of being a Christian as the result of something we do! I live a good iife—therefore I am a Christian; I go to a place of worship—therefore I am a Christian; I do not do certain things—therefore I am a Christian; I believe—therefore I am a Christian. The whole emphasis is upon myself, upon what I do. Whereas here, at the very beginning of the New Testament definition of a Christian, the entire emphasis is not upon man and his activity, but upon God. He who begat, He who produced, He who generates, He who gives life and being. Thus we see we cannot be a Christian at all unless God has done something to us. But I go beyond that and say that what makes us a Christian is something that makes us like God. “Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God.” That “of” is an important word; it means “out of God”; this is one who has received something of God Himself.

From December 8

Faith enables us to have victory over the world and to overcome it directly—passively—by the resting of a naked faith upon the Lord Jesus Christ. I am increasingly convinced that this is the greatest lesson that we as Christian people can ever learn in this world. It is the possibility of directly and immediately and passively resting upon the power and the ability of our risen Lord. “This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith” (verse 4)—my faith in Him, my belief in Him, that He is the Son of God. The result of that is that I go to Him and rest upon Him.

From December 11

As I look at the Lord Jesus Christ in terms of this fight against the world, I ask this question: Why did He ever come into this world? You see, I am now working out my faith in Christ. I believe that the person, Jesus of Nazareth, about whom I read in the Gospels, is the Son of God. Very well, I ask immediately, why did the Son of God ever take upon Himself the likeness of sinful flesh and live as man, as He indeed did? What is the meaning of it all? And there is only one answer to that question. It was because of the power of sin, the power of Satan, the power of evil. There is no other explanation. The Son of God came because He was the only way in which we could be delivered from the world. In other words, it is the doctrine of sin again, the power of Satan and sin and evil. He came into this world because the world was dominated by sin, and it is only as I believe that “Jesus is the Son of God” that I begin to understand the nature of the fight in which I am engaged. People are optimistic about this world, and they are so because they have never understood the nature of sin. But if you believe that Jesus is the Son of God, you have to believe that the power of sin and evil and Satan is so tremendous that man had failed and the Son of God had to come. Do you seen, then, how this enables us to overcome the world? How can I overcome the world unless I have seen the nature of the problem? The moment I have faith in Christ, I begin to understand the problem, for it is only the Christian who can see through this world. Everybody else is dominated by the world—governed by it. But the moment I become a Christian I see through the world.

One of my goals for 2015, in addition to reading the Bible, is to LISTEN to the Bible. I have found TWO audio bibles available through Bible Gateway that I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE and ADORE. The NIV-UK narration by David Suchet!!! And the KJV Dramatized Bible. I'll indicate which version/narration I listened to for each book. This is a year-long goal. For the record, my 2014 Bible records ended on December 27. My 2015 Bible records began on December 28th.

*Note: Listening to someone else read Leviticus is just as dry as reading it yourself with the exception that you can't skim through it. And if you're like me, you can READ faster than the narrator reading it aloud. How does listening to Leviticus compare to listening to Exodus or Genesis? Well, I found both Genesis and Exodus entertaining and enjoyable. There's a story to follow, and plenty of stuff happens. Leviticus *is* important…it is all about establishing worship and stressing the importance of how we can approach God, how we should approach God--with reverence and respect, always keeping in mind that God is holy, holy, holy.

Sunday, December 28, 2014

This will be the third full year I'll be hosting the Cloud of Witnesses Reading Challenge. I hope you'll join me!

The title of this reading challenge comes fromHebrews 12:1-2, which reads "Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God." (KJV) If the KJV isn't quite for you,

Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. (NASB)

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. (ESV)

For an author to qualify for this reading challenge, they must be among "the cloud of witnesses".... in other words, they must be dead. I think it isn't always easy for readers to pick up Christian classics. Perhaps because it isn't always easy to know exactly where to start. Perhaps because people think that they will be difficult to understand--that the language will be too difficult, the style too complicated. Perhaps because people question if a book will still be relevant. I believe that there are some AMAZING, GREAT, WONDERFUL, MUST-MUST-MUST reads out there waiting to be discovered.Examplesof qualifying authors:

John Stott (1921-2011)

D. James Kennedy (1930-2007)

James Montgomery Boice (1938-2000)

Loraine Boettner (1901-1990)

J. Vernon McGee (1904-1988)

Corrie Ten Boom (1892-1983)

Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1981)

Watchman Nee (1903-1972)

C.S. Lewis (1898-1963)

A.W. Tozer (1897-1963)

Dorothy Sayers (1893-1957)

A.W. Pink (1886-1952)

Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945)

G.K. Chesterton (1874-1936)

R.A. Torrey (1856-1928)

Charles Spurgeon (1834-1892)

A.B. Simpson (1843-1919)

Oswald Chambers (1874-1917)

E.M. Bounds (1835-1913)

Andrew Murray (1828-1917)

Alexander Whyte (1836-1921)

J.C. Ryle (1816-1900)

Horatius Bonar (1808-1889)

Charles Hodge (1797-1878)

Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758)

George Whitfield (1714-1770)

John Wesley (1703-1791)

William Law (1686-1761)

Richard Baxter (1615-1691)

John Owen (1616-1683)

John Bunyan (1628-1688)

Stephen Charnock (1628-1680)

John Flavel (1627-1691)

Matthew Henry (1662-1714)

Martin Luther (1483-1546)

John Calvin (1509-1564)

Brother Lawrence (1605-1691)

Thomas Watson (1620-1686)

Thomas Manton (1620-1677)

Thomas a Kempis (1380-1471)

Saint Augustine (354-430)

So what "counts" for this challenge? Well, the goal is to get you acquainted with different authors. So any reading material will count: no matter the length. It can be an article of a few pages; an individual sermon or a collection of sermons; it can be a book of quotes by that person; it can be a biography or autobiography about the person; you might find full-length books available online, or individual sermons online. And of course it doesn't matter if it's a book-book, e-book, or audiobook.So how do I find books? Some authors will still be in print. Others won't be. Plenty of qualifying books can be found at Amazon for Kindle or Barnes & Noble for Nooks. Plenty can be read online or downloaded as pdfs. A great place to begin might be Free Grace Broadcaster. They've got subject-themed newsletters with articles by various authors. Topics include "The Work of Christ," "Worship," "Heaven," "The Resurrection." I also recommend Christian Classics Ethereal Library. So how many books are required? If you're completely new to christian nonfiction (christian living, theology, bible commentaries, bible studies, etc.) then I'd like to challenge you to read ONE or TWO books. If your first attempt is too tough, or proving not-for-you, try again. Don't assume that just because one author isn't working for you, that no author will. If christian nonfiction is something you're comfortable reading, I'd like to challenge you to read four to six books for this challenge. What I would LOVE, LOVE, LOVE to see is for people to share quotes from what they're reading. I'd love to see readers recommend books to one another. So while I'd never, ever require participants to write book reviews, if you have a blog, I'd love for you to share quotes occasionally with your readers and let me know about it. If you don't have a blog, you could always leave quotes in the comments here. (Trust me, I'd welcome some relief from spam comments.)Sign up for the challenge by leaving a comment on the blog. If you want you can suggest an author that I've left off the list.The dates for the challenge are January 1, 2015 to December 31, 2015.

About

Becky from Becky's Book Reviews and Young Readers and Operation Actually Read Bible. I love reading. Always have, always will. The views and opinions expressed on this blog are mine and mine alone. They do not necessarily reflect the opinions of my friends, family, or other group affiliations. Email me at laney_poATyahoo.com

Review Policy

I am happy to accept review copies (Christian fiction, Christian nonfiction, Bibles, audio Bibles, audio books, Christian music CDs, Christian DVDs, etc.) from authors and publishers. By receiving a review copy, I am not guaranteeing that I will review it. While I will review most Christian fiction--fairly and honestly but NEVER EVER EVER promising a gushing review--I am pickier on nonfiction. I'll only review it if I can honestly recommend it and find it biblically sound and for the edification of the faith. If you are interested, please send me an email at laney_po AT yahoo DOT com.

Authors, publishers. I am interested in interviewing authors and participating in blog tours. (All I ask is that I receive a review copy of the author's latest book beforehand so the interview will be productive. If the book is part of a series, I'd like to review the whole series.) Contact me if you're interested.